Lemn Sissay is a poet, playwright and broadcaster. Few people have thought more deeply about the meaning of home than Lemn.

As a baby, Lemn was separated from his Ethiopian mother and placed into foster care with a white family. He grew up believing he had been abandoned, not even knowing his real name. From the age of twelve, he was placed in a series of children's homes, where he remained until adulthood.

In this conversation, we explore how those early experiences shaped Lemn’s understanding of family, belonging and identity.

We talk about how poetry gave him a sense of place when nowhere else could, and what it means to build a sense of home inside yourself after losing it so young.

These discussions are intended for general information and should not be considered medical, psychological or professional advice. If you have concerns about your health or wellbeing, please consult a qualified professional.

Lemn Sissay:
See Lemn on tour: https://www.fane.co.uk/lemn-sissay#event-listing
Share your family story on Lemn's global storytelling website: https://tellmesomething.family/

To hear more from us:

Patreon: Watch exclusive home tours, HomingWithMatt
YouTube: Subscribe to our channel, Homing with Matt
Instagram: Follow for updates and announcements, @homingwithmatt
Contact: Email us at hello@mattgibberd.com

Matt Gibberd’s book, A Modern Way to Live, is available here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/320176/a-modern-way-to-live-by-gibberd-matt/9780241480496

Music by @simeonwalkermusic
Identity & design by @lena.winkler.creative.office
Produced by @podshoponline

Anna Jones is a cook, food writer, and one of the leading voices in modern vegetarian cooking. For Anna, making food for someone is the ultimate act of care.

She began her career working alongside Jamie Oliver, before becoming one of Britain's best-loved food writers in her own right with bestsellers like A Modern Way to Eat and One: Pot, Pan, Planet.

Anna grew up in a close-knit family where food was central to everything and, for a shy child, cooking became a way to express herself. She also shares how losing close family friends in the Lockerbie air disaster instilled a lifelong instinct to be the dependable one.

We explore motherhood, postnatal depression and what happens when caring for other people leaves too little room to care for yourself.

This episode was recorded in Anna's Victorian House in Hackney.

Join us over on Patreon to watch the full house tour.
Patreon: http://patreon.com/HomingWithMatt

More of Anna:

Books - https://annajones.co.uk/books
Website - https://annajones.co.uk/
Weekly newsletter - https://substack.com/@annajonesfood
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/we_are_food/

To hear more from us:

Patreon: Watch exclusive home tours, https://www.patreon.com/HomingWithMatt
YouTube: Subscribe to our channel, Homing with Matt
Instagram: Follow for updates and announcements, @homingwithmatt
Contact: Email us at hello@mattgibberd.com

Matt Gibberd’s book, A Modern Way to Live, is available here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/320176/a-modern-way-to-live-by-gibberd-matt/9780241480496

Music by @simeonwalkermusic
Identity & design by @lena.winkler.creative.office
Produced by @podshoponline

Jinny Blom is one of Britain's leading landscape designers. She has created over 700 gardens – and each one begins, in some way, with a search for security.

Jinny trained as a psychologist and psychotherapist, working for many years in mental health, before a prophetic dream prompted her to devote herself to her lifelong interest in natural landscapes and gardens.

Since then, Jinny has created spaces that promote the relationship between nature and health – from her sky garden at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital to a healing garden she created with King Charles.

In this conversation, Jinny speaks openly about a childhood marked by abandonment and abuse, and how those early experiences shaped the way she experiences architecture and landscape.

We talk about the childhood hiding place that still influences her work today, the unusual rules she follows when designing a garden, and how creating beautiful landscapes became a way of making sense of a very difficult start in life.

This episode was recorded in Jinny's converted sixteenth-century threshing barn in Oxford.

Join us over on Patreon to watch the full home tour.
Patreon: http://patreon.com/HomingWithMatt

Jinny's Current Work:

Jinny’s studio has projects across various continents as well as in the UK.

Her most recent book ‘What Makes a Garden’ won Garden Book of the Year in 2024 published by Frances Lincoln/Quarto. The accompanying self-made podcast series launched in October 2023, with guests as varied as Tim Walker, Skye Gyngell and Brian Eno.

The studio has won prestigious awards for large, completed estates, some of which appear in her new book.

Jinny has launched a bespoke range of English ‘landscape colours’ designed by her specifically for use outside. She has teamed up with Dominic Myland, the owner of the family run paint maker and Royal Warrant holder Mylands. It is a unique plant-based formula for wood, metal and masonry.

To hear more from us:

Patreon: Watch exclusive home tours, https://www.patreon.com/HomingWithMatt
YouTube: Subscribe to our channel, Homing with Matt
Instagram: Follow for updates and announcements, @homingwithmatt
Contact: Email us at hello@mattgibberd.com

Matt Gibberd’s book, A Modern Way to Live, is available here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/320176/a-modern-way-to-live-by-gibberd-matt/9780241480496

Music by @simeonwalkermusic
Identity & design by @lena.winkler.creative.office
Produced by @podshoponline